Alpha Tau Omega - Iowa State University

TAU TALK ALPHA TAU OMEGA AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FALL 2019 STAYING IN TOUCH WITH ALPHA TAU OMEGA Help Gamma Upsilon Strengthen Its Alumni Database B rothers of Gamma Upsilon, we need your help! We'd like to initiate a call to action to assist in getting our contact database up-to-date. If you're interested, we'd like to have a strategy of class "captains" with a strong connection with the members of their decade at Gamma Upsilon. Please send me an email if you'd be willing to receive a defined era of members to review the contact information we have on file. Any support in connecting us with our long-lost brothers would be greatly appreciated. In other exciting news, our first remote board meeting was held on September 30, 2019. It was the first chance for board members and undergraduates alike to engage with the new teleconferencing equipment installed at the chapter house. This will be a tremendous opportunity for undergraduates to begin building their teleconferencing etiquette, as well as adding new board members to the mix. Special thank-you to Jordan Euson '08 and Sean McCarthy '09 for being trailblazers and joining our first remote board meeting. If being a board member is not a commitment you're ready for, we're always seeking ways to connect undergraduates and our great alumni base around the country. Please consider, if able, the members for internship and potential employment opportunities. You can (and a couple of you have) email me or Chapter President Noah Beukelman '17 to assist in finding a particular field of study or major. With scholarship applications due in the near future, we'll have a fresh batch of résumés ready to go. Lastly, if there are any additional ways we can enhance our ties to you, please don't be shy around providing that feedback. Thank you to those who were compelled to provide a response to our last mailer on the topic. Love and Respect, Michael Nelson '07 President, Board of Trustees michael.nelsonjr@gmail.com M any people who were alive on July 20, 1969, remember exactly where they were when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land on the moon. In the wee hours of the next morning when Armstrong uttered the words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," he explained why the credit for the monumental accomplishment shouldn't be limited to him and Aldrin. Throughout the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union, Gamma Upsilon's own Al Hausrath '42 played a big behind-the-scenes role in various accomplishments for the USA. Al entered Chapter Eternal on February 11, 2019, but the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing gave Mary Elizabeth Hausrath yet another reason to be proud of everything her late husband accomplished. "He worked long hours," Mary Elizabeth said. "He was paid for 48 hours and he worked 60 hours a week. He loved it." While working at Convair Astronautics, Al was a member of the team that President Dwight D. Eisenhower called upon to put the first American into space. Al was responsible for selecting the external material for the Atlas missile. Mary Elizabeth fondly remembers when a chimpanzee was eating a banana after returning safely from the mission of Mercury 5, which set the stage for John Glenn to become the first American to be sent to space a few months later on the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. "The skin of the Atlas missile was less thick than a dime," Mary said. "They still use it because it will take a very heavy load and go a long way, but there are lighter, better missiles that they use for the most part now." Al spent most of his career with TRW, which has since been acquired by Northrop Grumman. His focus was primarily on building intercontinental ballistic missiles. Although there was a lot of stress involved with Al's top-secret work during his aerospace career, he knew how to have fun with it. Al had plenty of top-secret fun in a different nature when he was an active member in Gamma Upsilon. Al Hausrath '42 Remembered for Aerospace Accomplishments (Continued on page 2)

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